Who is Vivian Maier?
Now considered one of the 20th century's greatest street photographers, Vivian Maier was seen as a strange nanny who described herself as a "mystery woman" and "sort of a spy". Maier secretly took over 100,000 photographs that went unseen during her lifetime.
Since buying her work by chance at auction, amateur historian John Maloof has crusaded to put this prolific photographer in the history books.
Her camera, a Rolleiflex, was operated at chest level, which allowed the photographer to maintain eye contact with the person whose picture she was taking. Many of her strongest and most memorable shots are of people staring straight at her. Most of the celebrated images that now sell for thousands and hang on gallery walls depict people on the powerless fringes of society: African Americans, children, the old and the poor.
Maier's strange and riveting life and art are revealed through never-before-seen photographs, films, and interviews with dozens who thought they knew her. I always got the feeling that what she wanted to do was take photos and hauling the kids around was just a chore."
Check out more of Maiers work at vivianmaier.com and the trailer for Finding Vivian Maier below.
